Google Android Market Can Also Be Infected !

Highly aggressive mal-ware has been detected in the Android Market.‎

As many as 21 applications in Android devices were infected with mal-ware, unknown to ‎the user. Vital information containing IMEI and IMSI numbers, product IDs, model, ‎partner, language, country and user IDs were stolen. The mal-ware applications had the ‎ability to download code and run it.‎

Google has removed the destructive applications from the Android Market, but by that ‎time they were downloaded 50,000 to 250,000 times within four days. The offending ‎applications infected in Android devices were also removed remotely, but it is not certain ‎that the dangerous applications were completely removed. ‎

The above intrusion to side-load code is a major setback for Google and a failure of ‎sandboxing of Android applications. A byte-code under their Dalvik regime, which is ‎similar to but not derived from Java had been used for the Android.‎

The onus to make sure that Android’s internal security is not breached rests with Google. ‎But, the ease with which these Android mal-ware applications, breached the Android OS, ‎has cast aspersions on Google’s hitherto capabilities. ‎

The extent, to which the mal-ware was able to penetrate and execute code without ‎explicit user authorization, has raised many an eye-brow! Google will have to step back ‎and reassess their security architecture for their Android mobile operating system. Google ‎will have to introduce additional precautions to keep its rapidly expanding Android ‎operating system secure, along with its reputation for providing reliable, safe ‎software.‎